Inferno
by ClaireBear1982
Summary: Pansy is lost in the room of requirement during the battle of Hogwarts


A/N: Written for the Quidditch League Fanfiction Competition.

Captain of Pride of Portree.

Prompt: Kill Pansy Parkinson.

W/C: 1143. Run through Grammarly Pro.

* * *

The Great Hall was eerie now. Everyone was focusing on the words that the Dark Lord had managed to speak in all their minds. No one spoke up, for a while the hall was silent. Then a figure rose from the Slytherin table, it was Pansy Parkinson.

She raised a shaking arm and screamed, "But he's there! Potter's _there! _Someone grab him!"

Before Harry could speak, there was a massive movement. The entire of Gryffindor house and the Order of the Phoenix surrounded him, facing—not Harry—but the Slytherins. It wasn't long before the Hufflepuff students joined them, and then the Ravenclaws, all of them with their backs to Harry, and their wands trained on Pansy, and any other Slytherin student that might have similar ideas. Harry—awestruck and overwhelmed—watched as students and teachers all stood ready for battle.

"Thank you, Miss, Parkinson, " said Professor McGonagall in a clipped tone. "You will leave the Hall first with Mr Filch. If the rest of your House could follow."

"Where am I taking them, Headmistress," Filch murmured.

"The dungeons," she said, her voice commanding.

The Slytherins trooped out of the Hall behind Filch. Cheers erupted from the rest of the school as he started to lead them towards the dungeons.

Pansy pushed her way towards the back of the line. She made a beeline to where Malfoy and friends were talking frantically between themselves.

"Draco," she began, "once we get out of here do you want to come to my place and wait for news?"

"Who says I'm going to run away with my tail between my legs?" Draco sneered in disgust. He looked down at her, ashamed of her cowardice. "I have a mission to complete."

"What mission? I've been hearing rumours! Rumours that you still believe that you have a mission from the Dark Lord," said Pansy folding her arms across her chest. She looked at him inquiringly. It was an expression that demanded a response.

"I do. I have a mission to complete, Parkinson, so bugger off and leave me alone, " snapped Draco.

"Whatever, Malfoy! I never thought you would want to die like this!"

With that, Pansy stormed off ahead of Malfoy. Angry tears blurred her vision as she stomped angrily towards the dungeons.

When they got to where they needed to be, Pansy was still watching out for Draco, Crabbe and Goyle. They had snuck off in a different direction, and she quickly decided to follow. There were a good few flights of steps, all the way to the seventh floor. She watched as all three of them disillusioned, fading into the walls and stood quietly as though waiting for something. Pansy followed suit; wanting to know more she too disillusioned herself. If these idiots were going to try to do something stupid she wanted to make sure that she was on hand to help them get out of it. After all, something was very likely to go wrong, it always did. Just as quietly she watched and waited.

Finally, Harry, Hermione, and Ron all came into view. She watched as they disappeared through a door that had just appeared in the blank stretch of wall in front of her. She threw a hand over her mouth to contain a gasp of surprise. Draco, Crabbe and Goyle followed.

Just then a huge explosion rent the world apart. Pansy was thrown backwards; she landed awkwardly on her arm, and a huge crack of bone-breaking filled her ears. Pain shot up her arm and she bit her lip to contain her scream. It took everything not to cry out, or to cough, as the air was now thick with dust. Slowly Pansy sat up, and moments later, an elderly woman rushed out of the door, followed a minute later by a younger woman, who she recognized to be the Metamorphmagi, Nymphadora Tonks. Again, the door opened and out stepped Ginny Weasley, followed by Harry, Ron and Hermione.

Pansy started to get up. Things were getting out of hand and she wanted out. The pain in her arm was making her feel sick and was afraid. She watched as yet again, a door materialized in the exact same place as it did beforehand, only this time, the door looked less ornate than before. She watched as Draco, Crabbe and Goyle removed their disillusion and follow Potter and his friends in through the mysterious door. Pansy ran as fast as she could before it could disappear again.

Once inside her mouth fell open in surprise. What was this place? Was this how they were getting out? As she walked further and further into the maze of broken items, Pansy felt an increasing sense of doom. How had Draco and Potter both known about this place? So many questions bounced around her head.

Eventually, she felt like she'd been completely cut off from the outside world. Pansy tried to retrace her steps, but now she was completely lost. The silence was deafening, and it pushed in from all sides. Pansy felt hot tears fill her eyes. She was going into shock; she felt incredibly cold and sick. She slumped down and removed the disillusionment charm. She allowed the tears to pour forth. It wasn't like anyone was going to see her, after all, she was well and truly lost in this cathedral-sized room of junk.

She heard it before she saw it. A huge wall of fire. It was like a tidal wave and it engulfed everything that it came into contact with. She could feel the heat stinging and blistering her skin, even before it was close enough to touch. She scrambled to her feet and began to run. She ran with her heart pounding in her head and throat raw from struggling to breathe. She could feel the heat searing the skin on the back of her neck; it was gaining on her.

Turning she screamed, "_Aguamenti_."

Pansy watched helplessly as the water just evaporated. Panicking, she repeatedly screamed the spell over and over again, her voice hoarse from the effort and the heat. Each time the water just disappeared, and wall of fire only grew stronger.

It took her longer than it should have to realise that someone had cast _Fiendfyre_, and Pansy gave up and started running again. She couldn't outrun it; the heat plucked at her robes, and blooms of fire began to overtake it. Soon her hair followed. There wasn't time to feel pain, fear or hopelessness before the fiery wave enveloped her, turning her to ash.

No one ever found out what had become of Pansy Parkinson. Some say she eloped, some say she went into hiding, and some say she changed her identity. No one ever discovered the truth. No one ever knew that she died alone that day in a cathedral-like room, swallowed up by a fiery demon.


End file.
